Tag Archives: class h

The Moseley Railway Trust is honoured to have been asked to provide exhibits to support a major exhibition which is to be staged by the Dutch National Railway Museum at Utrecht – “Tracks to the Front“. 40Hp Motor Rail locomotive no.1369 and a water
tank wagon departed from the Trust’s base at Apedale, Staffordshire on 9th
March 2013. They will be displayed in Utrecht alongside other exhibits
gathered from as far afield as Serbia. The Motor Rail locomotive is one of
the distinctive “Enclosed” type locomotives. It was restored to working
order during an episode of the “Salvage Squad” TV series.

Phil Robinson, Moseley Railway Trust chairman said – We are delighted to be
able to support one of Europe’s major railway museums. We are confident that
this loan will further raise the profile of the Moseley Railway Trust, and
will also raise awareness of our major event “Tracks to the Trenches – 2014”
which will be held at Apedale in September 2014 to mark the start of the
First World War.

The Moseley Railway Trust is pleased to be able to confirm the booking of the first visiting steam locomotive to the “Tracks to the Trenches – 2014” event; Baldwin 4-6-0T No 778 from the Leighton Buzzard Railway in Bedfordshire. No 778 has not made many visits to other lines since restoration was completed in 2007, so this event will provide some unique locomotive/rolling stock combinations and photographic opportunities.

These 10-12-D class locomotives (the classification designated by the manufacturer) were supplied en-masse to the British War Department from

1917 onwards in all theatres, eventually totalling nearly 500 by 1918. They were the most common steam locomotive operated by the War Department Light Railways during the Great War. Based on a very similar design previously supplied to the French Army in Morocco, they had a limited life expectancy on the Battlefield of a mere 6-8 months.

Gareth Roberts, one of the event organisers of the “Tracks to the Trenches” event commented; “Today, only a very small number of these machines have survived and an even smaller number are operational. We are extremely grateful to the Greensand Railway Museum Trust and the Leighton Buzzard Railway for making available this locomotive, fully restored to original appearance, for this important WW1 Centenary commemoration.”

One of the higher profile peices of WW1 rolling stock based at Apedale is the restored & serviceable British Class H Watertank wagon. The basis of the rebuild was a water tank discovered at the Nocton potato farm which grows for Smith’s Crisps (the blue packets of salt are grown somewhere else). This tank was then re-united with an underframe and a set of bogies to recreate an unusual, interesting and very useful wagon.

Useful because its huge capacity can quench the thirst of any steam loco or passing traction engine, as the photo shows. The tank wagon (along with a locomotive) is provisionally booked to spend next summer as part of an exhibition at the Dutch National Railway Museumin Utrecht. We are quite flattered that the Utrecht people are so keen to deal with little old us at Apedale. We are hoping that the water tank won’t make the rest of their exhibits look too tatty in comparison. Incidentally, the shunting puzzle on their website is highly recommend. Click on this and say goodbye to the rest of the evening.

This is the new website to provide a focus and build-up towards the major WW1 commemoration event held over 13/14th September 2014 weekend at the Apedale Valley Light Railway’s site near Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England.

There is a high likliehood that the event may actually span 3-4 days – with School visits, Photographic charters & coach parties being strongly encouraged. Please contact us if this is of interest.

There are lots of other items and opportunities that will start to present themselves too. We are also keen to have discussions with Television/Film production companies who may be interested in working with us during this construction & gala creation.

We are also keen to make contact with any current Army units that might be able to assist us too please!

Please bookmark this site & watch for the regular updates as the developments progress.

Driver Experience Course

Click for details of the "Tracks to the Trenches" guest driver experience course (steam/diesel footplate day).

About the Event

The "Tracks to the Trenches" 2018 event marks the finalé of the Moseley Railway Trust's First World War centenary commemorations - highlighting the tremendous expansion of the British light railways, which were used right up until the Armistice in 1918.

In 2014 and 2016 the Apedale Valley Light Railway hosted major First World War centenary events - marking 100 years since the start of the "War to end all Wars". These highly acclaimed centenary events focused on the often overlooked areas of Transport and Logistics used by all combatants during the conflict. This was the narrow gauge light railways' finest hour.

Using much of the Apedale site that had previously been inaccessible to the public, the site developments completed for the event, are now a legacy to last well beyond the centenary period. More developments are underway - please keep watching this website for news!

The Apedale Valley Light Railway is the narrow gauge public passenger railway that is operated by the volunteer run Moseley Railway Trust charity at its Apedale home near Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, UK.